Kum & Go founder W.A. "Bill" Krause dies

2:00 PM,
Jun. 19, 2013

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Written by

Patt Johnson
Des Moines Register

W.A. "Bill" Krause, an entrepreneur who created one of the largest convenience store chains in the Midwest, Kum & Go, died this morning at his home in the Glen Oaks neighborhood of West Des Moines. He was 78.

Krause is credited with helping pioneer the convenience store format in 1959, when he started selling milk, bread and eggs at a gas station and car wash. He built that single store into a chain that rivals the biggest in the nation.